


Fading Forgiveness

by ClaireKat



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 2D pv verse, 2D verse, F/M, One Shot, pv verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 14:50:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8537287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClaireKat/pseuds/ClaireKat
Summary: Chat Noir fled Paris to keep Ladybug and the other miraculous holders safe. When he suddenly returns, and to Ladybug no less, she finds herself at a loss for how to respond.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back after being gone for forever again. Sorry for the really sporadic writing updates, real life has been kicking my butt in the worst way but I'm trying to make myself get into writing again. This is a prompt fill that takes place in an AU verse where Felix and Bridgette are Ladybug and Chat Noir and Adrien is Chat Blanc. I'm not sure if Marinette and Bridgette share Tikki or if she should be another superhero, I'd need to give some thought as to what other kind of animal/bug she could be. I hope you enjoy!

It had been years since Ladybug had last seen Chat Noir, and she was used to handling things on her own. She valiantly protected Paris from whatever nefarious felons or unsuspecting pawns continued to emerge from the shadows, with occasional participation from the companions that he had also left behind. As eager as they were to help fill the void that Chat Noir had left without a word or a sign of why, Ladybug frequently rejected Marinette and Adrien’s eager aid. She was intent to carry out her duties as the lone guardian of Paris and even more resolved to protect the fledgling heroes that had been left under her care. As the months passed, she continued to operate with a heart stilled by numbness, severing herself from the past as she tried to work around the memories she fought so desperately to avoid. While part of her wanted answers, wanted to understand, part of her also never wanted to think of him again.

So, imagine her surprise when she was ambushed on a clear Parisian night, startled by a lithe black-suited form as it swept past the corner of her eye. The form blinked to her to her side before she could properly react, yanking her to a startling halt. Her head snapped around, a swath of stark blonde hair standing out against the darkness as the form closed in on her. She shoved him away in an instant only to be pulled back from the roof’s edge just before she could fall. The warmth of his arms and chest enveloped her as he pulled her close, hoping to calm her down, to give her a moment to process who he was. Despite his assumption, she had been honing her strength, both mental and physical, while was away; in the next second she socked him in the gut and slipped out of his grasp. She put a few feet of distance between them, dizzy from confusion and lack of breath, her heart heavy as his very presence drove a dagger through her.

“Ladybug, wait—”

“I don’t have to wait for you. Not anymore,” she retorted harshly, slipping down into the nearest alley. She relied on the shadows to conceal her as she dodged between the buildings, skirting the miscellaneous objects strewn about them.

Chat Noir followed without hesitation, his catlike vision allowing him to track her with ease. “No, please, you have to let me explain—”

“I don’t want any excuses, any explanations…I don’t want anything from you. I certainly don’t want you stalking me, chasing me down like this, expecting any kind of forgiveness or something to clear your guilty conscience.”

“You at least need to understand why I left.”

“No matter what you try to tell me, it doesn’t change the fact that you did.”

The two figures stopped in their tracks, bathed in the moonlight that absorbed the open square they had stumbled upon. Hidden from the main streets, the bulk of the city’s prying eyes, Chat Noir watched Ladybug’s still, expressionless form, her back turned towards him. The black pariah took a hesitant step in her direction, prepared at any moment to break into a run to match her own. She didn’t move, didn’t flinch at all, but he knew she could hear him. Her body was trembling in rage, fear, disappointment…and perhaps even a little bit of relief. Relief that he was alive, relief that of all the people he could have come back to, he came back to her. But was it really enough?

“Listen, I didn’t have a choice. Not if I wanted to keep you and the kids safe.”

“The kids are plenty capable of protecting themselves and this city. They’ve been indispensable to me as partners while you were off doing who knows what in who knows where. Honestly, Chat, how can you expect me to be excited that you’ve returned? You’re right, I don’t know why you left, or much less why you’ve come back, how long you plan to stick around.” Her hands clenched alongside her throat as she made a valiant attempt to swallow the tears bubbling within. “You didn’t even say goodbye…”

He knew that what he had done was wrong, but his absence was the most poignant message he could think to leave. She was a smart, dedicated, and sometimes outlandish girl; he knew he couldn’t bear to face her one last time burdened with the knowledge he had. Even now, being this close to her, exchanging these words felt too risky. But it was too late. She was listening to him now, and if he disappeared again into the darkness he knew that what little connection might still exist between them would be lost forever.

“I’m glad that the kids are safe,” his mumbled words barely carried to her, but what he said wasn’t as important as how she felt. The gentle tone that caressed her was already starting to rekindle a false sense of hope and safety within her. “I’m glad that they didn’t back out of the job. I’m glad that you’ve been coaching them, that they even had you around to do that. I guarantee if I had stayed, we all would have been exposed.”

“And what if we were all willing to take that risk? Why did you take it upon yourself to keep all of us safe, why are you so suck on this twisted idea of isolated vigilante justice? The Kwami came to all of us for a reason, Chat. And they came to us together to help bring us together. Not tear us apart.”

He knew that part of her upset stemmed from her knowledge of who he really was. He knew that after he left, it was inevitable that she would have realized who else was prominently missing from her day to day life. Already such an integral part of her reality in more ways than one, he also knew that leaving her had been one of the worst decisions he could have made. Was it acceptable for him to say that he did it for her, or was it just an excuse? She would probably deem it the latter, but he was the only one who understood the true extent of the situation.

He didn’t think it would be a good idea to bring up that aspect of things just yet, though. Bringing up the truth that she had lost not only the one person she could rely on in this world, but also the centerpiece of her deeply embedded affections would only drive her further away. Now that he finally had her speaking to him, he had to be careful not to preemptively demolish the shaky second chance he had. It was the nature of his luck that things never turned out positively, though, and he didn’t have any reason to think that he would get more than this one chance to try to make things right.

“I’m not going to leave again, not this time. I came back because I know we have to finish this. Together.”

She could tell that his words were genuine, but she was distracted by the storm in her heart. Even if he was telling the truth, they had both operated under a similar assumption before…and he had set that promise up in flames. Similarly, even more promises had been broken concerning the truth of who he was, who she realized he had been all this time. Healing, conversing, coming to terms with the reality that they shared would take a lot of time, and she still wasn’t convinced that all of that would be enough to mend the gaping rift that that once been their friendship, their relationship, their partnership.

“The kids will be happy to know you’ve returned,” she spoke again, her hands relaxing a little as she thought of them. “I was just going back to report to them. I let them take the night off a lot, but they still insist on being told everything, even if I don’t come across anything important.”

“I don’t know if you’ll be able to go back with that kind of a report tonight,” he replied, taking another step forward in the hopes that when she took off this time, he would be permitted to follow.

“No…tonight, I think I’ll let you tell it.”


End file.
